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| Sherry as an infant, drawing by Whitney |
Little One:
You are God’s reward (Psalm 127:3). Before you were formed, God knew you (Jeremiah 1:7).
You are fearfully and wonderfully made, ordained for a purpose (Jeremiah 1:5).
When darkness blanketed you and your substance was concealed from your parents’ eyes, God covered you, and knew your thoughts (Psalm 139:4, 13).
Little Girl:
May your earthly father reflect the everlasting Father. May he be to you a refuge and a fortress. May he impress God’s Word upon your heart; may he speak of It when he sits at home, when he walks along the road, when he lies down and rises (Deuteronomy 6:7-8).
May your mother reflect the woman you shall become. May she clothe you in the expectations of Hannah, in a little coat of strength and honor (Proverbs 31:25). May you know that charm is deceptive, that beauty is fleeting, but the woman who fears the Lord is greatly to be praised (Proverbs 31:30).
Do not say that you are only a child, but be willing to go wherever He sends you, and say what He commands you to say (Jeremiah 1:7).
Honor your parents, listen to their voice (Exodus 20:12). May God give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Him (Ephesians 1:18), to love Him with your entirety---heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
Be consecrated, be set apart, be His.
Little Woman:
Lovely One, may you grow in favor with the Lord and with men by following the paths of Wisdom, Charity, and Purity:
Fear the Lord above men (Proverbs 31:30), may your tongue be an instrument only of kindness (Proverbs 31:26).
Remain in God; may your husband’s heart trust safely in you (Proverbs 30:11).
Have compassion upon the unwell; stretch out your hands to the spiritually and physically poor, and reach out your hands to the needy (Proverbs 31:20).
May you marry a Boaz, who provides for all of your needs, and protects your heart and reputation. May he love you as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself up for Her (Ephesians 5:25).
May your womb be blessed with life and the expectation of Life (John 14:6). May your children arise and call you blessed, and your husband, also (Proverbs 31: 28). Be always content in their praise even as your husband is known at the gate (Proverbs 31:23 ).
In accepting these blessings, Dear One, you shall be a true daughter of Sarah, Ruth, and Esther; they found true beauty in a gentle and quiet spirit, and hoped in God (1 Peter 3:4).
Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10)!
How Are You Clothing Your Children? Corresponding Devotional by Sherry
"But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer yearly sacrifice."
I Samuel 2:18-19
"Hannah's motherhood experience revealed purpose; not only did she realize that children are from the Lord, but are FOR the Lord. Unlike what secular counselors typically excuse as the "unaccountable" years, Hannah's expectations for her son were wholly and only to wear a little ephod---to minister unto the Lord as His own servant. What raiment of expectations have we clothed our children in today---are they aspirations of worldly success, or a "little coat" of what he or she may become in the Lord?"
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